Sponsorship sellers often tell me that corporations actually ask them about their Gold-Silver-Bronze packages.
When they do, I can’t help but automatically think of this oft-used line attributed to inventor Henry Ford designer of the Ford Model T and the efficient assembly line production that made it affordable.
Here’s what you don’t want to do: acquiesce and hand it over.
Just because a corporate leader asks doesn’t mean you give it to them.
That may sound like a heresy but read on.
These generic programs have almost no value, so your corporate partner really doesn’t benefit. (If you’re a buyer of sponsorship, keep this in mind.)
The fees are low, so your organization really doesn’t benefit either.
Because the dynamic with your corporate representative is disempowering, on an individual level, you haven’t advanced your relationship and therefore don’t benefit either.
Instead you need a bona fide sales process that puts the two of you on a peer level. You need to be building a relationship and together developing the best partnership possible.
With Gold-Silver-Bronze generic packages, you’re selling a commodity.
When sponsors ask for them, don’t worry about rustling feathers and not following along with the script.
If you’re a trusted partner, with that corporate sponsor’s best interest at heart, you educate your partner, have a conversation, and develop something substantially more meaningful and valuable to that person.